Some firearms, such as semi-automatic shotguns, have tubular magazines extending parallel to the shotgun's barrel capable of accommodating a selected number of shotgun shells within the shotgun. These magazines are typically designed to be reloaded one shotgun shell at a time, which can be time consuming and lead to dropped shotgun shells.
There are shotgun chargers (also sometimes referred to as autoloaders) that have been designed in an effort to reduce the time and number handling steps in reloading a shotgun's tubular magazine.
Conventional shotgun chargers may have an extended length that makes them difficult or inconvenient to carry on a person and access while also carrying a shotgun. In addition, conventional shotgun chargers may require two hands to hold the charger in contact with the shotgun and to operate it to unload shells from the charger into the shotgun, which is inconvenient.